Youth and junior camps at Monte Hebrón: Preparing a generation for ministry

Youth and junior camps formed part of Monte Hebrón’s work with children and teenagers. The summer gatherings brought young people together for preaching and provided occasions to consider their future Christian service. Surviving accounts identify the workers responsible for particular camps and connect some participants’ decisions with preparation for full-time ministry.[1][2]

The camps served different age groups. In 2004, the youth camp and junior camp had separate leadership teams and attendance totals. A later account of the July 2017 youth camp records continuing interest among participants in entering the Bible institute.[1][2]

The youth camp of 2004

Sixty-five young people attended Monte Hebrón’s youth camp in the summer of 2004. Larry Averitt and Javier Carvajal directed the camp while Tommy and Brenda Ashcraft were away on vacation.[1]

Their leadership placed responsibility for the event with members of the ministry’s team. The camp continued during the pastor’s absence, and Tommy’s subsequent report praised the work of both men and relayed favorable comments from those who had attended.[1]

Eight of the sixty-five participants surrendered their lives to full-time Christian service. This was a specific response to the camp’s spiritual emphasis: young people expressing a willingness to make Christian ministry their life’s work.[1]

The account records their decisions at camp. It does not provide the participants’ names or establish their later appointments, but it preserves a clear measure of the response that summer: eight young people making a commitment concerning future service.[1]

Junior camp on the Monte Hebrón campus

The younger children had a camp of their own. Fidel Leija and Fernando Ramones were responsible for the junior camp taking place at Monte Hebrón during the week of August 12, 2004. Fifty-seven children attended.[1]

Tommy was scheduled to preach the final service that evening. The arrangement combined the work of the camp’s leaders with a closing preaching service, giving younger children a separate gathering within the church’s summer program.[1]

The distinction between the two camps matters to their history. The sixty-five youth-camp participants and the fifty-seven junior campers belonged to different events, led by different teams. Larry Averitt and Javier Carvajal directed the youth camp; Fidel Leija and Fernando Ramones led the junior camp on campus.[1]

The youth camp of July 2017

More than sixty young people attended the youth camp held in July 2017. Tommy preached its final service.[2]

By that summer, he had completed his pastorate at Iglesia Bautista Monte Hebrón, but his participation in the closing service maintained his connection with the church’s younger generation. Camp remained an occasion for preaching about Christian service and considering the next steps in preparation.[2]

Several participants were planning to enter Instituto Bíblico Bautista Monte Hebrón that August. Their plans provide a direct link between the summer gathering and the institute’s forthcoming semester, although an intention to enroll should not be confused with a confirmed enrollment or subsequent graduation.[2]

The 2017 account supplies an attendance figure and identifies those plans, but it does not establish a reliable numerical total for decisions concerning Christian service. The documented result is therefore best expressed in those terms: more than sixty attended, Tommy preached the closing service, and several young people were preparing to enter the institute.[2]

Camps and preparation for service

The 2004 and 2017 accounts are separated by thirteen years, yet both place Christian service near the center of the camp experience. In 2004, eight young people surrendered to full-time ministry. In 2017, several participants were considering institute study as a next step.[1][2]

The names of the workers also preserve an important part of the story. Larry Averitt, Javier Carvajal, Fidel Leija, Fernando Ramones, and Tommy Ashcraft appear in specific leadership or preaching roles. Their contributions show that the camps depended on shared responsibility within the wider ministry.[1][2]

These records establish the camps’ place alongside Monte Hebrón’s other work with young people. They offered a setting in which children and teenagers heard preaching, responded to challenges about service, and, in some cases, made plans for further preparation through the Bible institute.[1][2]